Steve Kubby details the medical neglect and the many medical dangers he is experiencing in the Placer County jail in Auburn, California.

Monday, January 30 2006 report from Steve Kubby in jail in Placer County, California. Followed by 2 phone interviews with Steve Kubby in the same jail. First interview farther down is from Sunday, January 29, 2006. It is followed by one from Saturday, January 28, 2006.

Thank You to Dale Gieringer for posting the following to the DPFCA list. (I have tried to make it a little easier to read by making each statement in the transcripts clearly separate, so any mistakes are mine). Yes, it is long, but tears came as I read thru it, both for Steve, and for his acknowledgement that the efforts you are making are having an impact.

Richard Lake

-------------------------

A friend of Steve Kubby's, Fred Colburn, received a call from him early this morning (7:30 Mon). [January 30, 2006]

He said he is in excruciating pain, vomiting, weak from inability to eat for the last several days, with blood in his urine, and without a blanket or even Tylenol.

Supporters of Steve will be rallying tomorrow at noon at the Placer Co. Courthouse in Auburn, where there will be a hearing at 1 pm.

Following are two lengthy telephone interviews with Steve conducted by Pat McCartney over the weekend:

SK: Please take notes of everything I'm going to tell you, and at seven you can get back to me.

PM: Okay.

SK: I am getting zero medical care. I'm unable to even get Tylenol for pain and headaches.

PM: And you've requested it?

SK: I have requested it repeatedly. I'm told I don't have a prescription for it.

PM: Have you requested anything other than Tylenol?

SK: Anything for pain, but most pain medications are a problem for me, and Tylenol is all I need.

PM: Did you get the second shipment of the Marinol?

SK: I don't know. They keep that. They are completely ignoring the bloody urine. I was told on Friday at noon when I came in, that they would test me for that, and they're not testing me. And I'm really concerned that they don't want to test me, that they don't want to document that I've got blood in my urine as the result of medical incompetence and torture that I'm getting here.

PM: I hear you.

SK: The first follow-up since admission Friday was today, about two hours ago they checked my b-p. [Blood pressure.] No other care or exam. By b-p on examination was one-sixty-six over one-oh-eight, which is way high for me. Now, I believe that the medical director thinks that I'm a fraud, or ignorant, or something, because when I told him that I cannot take - Well, I don't know if he even got the message. They said, you got to - They said, um - I told them I can't take regular meds, so they said, well then, you're refusing treatment. And I said I'm refusing conventional treatment, yes. So, you know I went through that whole thing with the deputy yesterday. After the confrontation with the hostile deputy

PM: So you went through a similar thing today?

SK: No, but after this confrontation with the hostile deputy, I'm afraid to push this issue and I need help from friends calling. And by the way, I'm getting the message that they're getting a lot of calls. I'm under the impression that I cannot expect any help from the medical director due to my refusal to take conventional medicines.

PM: Now, is this what Michele put in her note? Beta blocker and alpha blocker, or something?

SK: These things are deadly for me. My Doctor Conners in Canada understands, but people need to understand that I do not have [high] blood pressure, I have episodes of [high] blood pressure. So, if you treat me when I'm running one-sixty-six, if you treat that right now, as soon as my tumor lets up, I'm going to bottom out and turn into a vegetable.

PM: I see.

SK: I can't move. I have trouble speaking. I have, like, no blood pressure. On the other hand, if I have an attack and I'm only medicated for one hundred, sixty-six over one-oh-eight, and it goes to two-fifty over two-twenty, which it does and which I believe it went last Friday, if it gets that high, it blows completely through the protection of the blood-pressure medication, and it fools my body into thinking that I'm protected until that moment, and that's what's deadly. That's where I get killed. That's where I get hammered with terrible, terrible attacks, because I've been through this for fucking years [anger rising in voice], and this - These people here gave me an informational sheet on hypertension. I know I know more than the top medical authorities in California, and they're giving me an information sheet. I'm really, really disturbed by what is going on.

PM: So you're not in the infirmary? You're in a solitary cell?

SK: Yes. No, I'm not in any sort of an infirmary. I don't see anyone. [Sighs.]

PM: Have you received any more comments from staff that is memorable.

SK: I've got a lot more to report. But there's one sergeant here, Minden Sanders, who's attempting to straighten things out. He told me a lot of folks are calling and complaining. He got me a pillow. He got me an extra pillow.

PM: Good!

SK: I sent him a written statement that I am not - This blood thing, they could fucking settle it with one fucking test! They could have done it Friday in two minutes.

PM: What kind of test are you talking about?

SK: Blood in urine; it's a simple process. I don't know. I've never had blood in my urine before. They told me they can test for this.

PM: Steve, I'm transcribing our first conversation for Eric Bailey, Martin, and maybe Fred Gardner, or Ann Harrison. I'll put something together for like DPFCA based on all our conversations.

SK: I told you yesterday that the Marinol appeared to be helping. I honestly thought I could make it. But everyone needs to know that I was mistaken. Dr. Conners said it would not control my blood pressure. He was correct. It does provide partial effective relief for my symptoms, but it is not very effective on the adrenaline production.

PM: Is that because CBD is better for that?

SK: There's something in the whole plant that keeps me at one-twenty over eighty, or better, and it is outrageous that I'm being kept to the point that I'm worried my kidneys are being damaged. Now, the vomiting and nausea are gone, and I ate my first meal today, but it just went right through me as diarrhea. So I'm losing weight, and I'm weak.

PM: I'll also copy it to Dick Cowan, the transcript. I'm sorry to hear this, Steve. You know, I've received a couple requests to say hello to you. Certainly, Eva, Dale Schafer, and Debbie Debord, and practically everybody I see.

SK: Let me get back to my report, OK? I urgently need for Dr. Conners in Canada to contact the medical director, and separately contact the head of the jail here, and explain to them why no conventional therapy is going to be able to keep me alive. They need understand that they're going to fucking kill me. I'm sorry, but you know, three days and they can't even test or verify that I have blood in my urine? What kind of fucking care is that? I need Fred [Colburn] to find a male barber. He knows - His daughter is a female barber. I need a haircut, man. I don't want to go to the hearing without a haircut, if I can get one. They say you can bring a male barber in at any time and get a haircut. Will you look into that?

PM: [Laughs.] Well, Steve. Anything else you want to tell me before I come tonight. Do you know if I can have a tape recorder with me, or a camera?

SK: I don't know.

PM: Well, I'll find out. Eva's going to try to see you, too, but I'm not sure if you're allowed two individuals per week, or just two visiting periods per week.

SK: I don't know, either.

PM: I'll find out.

SK: Pat - Well look, hang in there, buddy.

SK: This is really getting serious. I really thought yesterday that we had found an answer. And please, don't misunderstand me, but Marinol is tremendously helpful. It helps me with the nausea. I'm not getting any more of the - I was vomiting so bad that my cellmate was getting pissed at me. I requested a private cell, because I don't want to keep these guys up puking all the time. When I started the Marinol, the puking went away, but now I got diarrhea, so it just goes through me, boom. I'm weak, I'm shaky, and the worst thing of all is I honestly think that there's an effort here to not document what is happening, to not document that I am passing blood, to not document my blood-pressure attacks. Now, the big attacks, the worst one I had was Friday, it knocked me down, I got disoriented, but I have not had a super-high blood-pressure attack since then. But one-sixty-six over one-oh-eight is enough to make me feel pretty darn sick all fucking day.

Oh, and the officer got me a copy of the Auburn Journal story. I'll tell you, my blood really boiled when I saw that yet another police officer has decided to practice [medicine], and told the Auburn Journal that I looked "fine." Well, I want everyone to contact the Auburn Journal and tell them I'm not fine, and doctors, police who make those kind of - Not just the police, but for the Auburn Journal to put that in is fucking bullshit, as sick as I am, to say that he looks fine.

PM: They've got to talk to everybody on all sides of it, Steve. That's just part of the news. But I want to know where they got that yahoo medical expert. That was an embarrassment.

SK: Who? The cop?

PM: No, the UC Davis person who pooh-poohed the -

SK: Yes. That was the worst thing the Auburn Journal has done.

SK: They're going to kill me with that kind of stuff.

PM: I hear you.

SK: They're going to convince people that it's not a big deal. It is a big deal.

PM: You've got to take care of yourself to at least Tuesday. How often do you take the Marinol?

SK: Three times a day.

PM: I see. Is that sufficient, do you think?

SK: It's all I'm going to get from that. There's only one medicine that has ever worked for me. I have thirty fucking years of documentation, goddammit!

PM: Yeah.

SK: Now, Dr. Conners is a very high-ranking doctor. I'm hopeful that he can persuade - You know, he's not American, so they might just blow him off. People need to understand what is on the line. So, I'm going to get off the phone, and let you contact people. I'd like you to contact my wife and find out what is going on. I don't want you to scare her, but I want you to tell her to tell Ed [Pearson] that I'm passing blood.

PM: So, let me get this straight again. They have not tested for blood in the urine yet?

SK: No, they have not.

PM: I see, Steve.

SK: The only follow-up I've had in three days was a blood-pressure check today.

PM: I got you. Well look, I will see you in a couple hours and I'll make a few calls before then.

SK: Just let everyone know that the calls work. They're rattled here. They're just ignorant. They're ignorant! They think it's a fraud or a joke or something. They've got to understand that they're going to fucking kill me! I've never had blood in my kidneys before. I don't deserve to have damaged kidneys now. I don't deserve that. I want people to help me any way they can, because at this point, I am really, really concerned. So, I'm going to say good-bye.

PM: Take care. Try and stay calm, Steve. You can't let the stress get to you.

SK: When you see blood come out in your urine, it's hard to remain calm.

SK: [Reads from prepared remarks.] OK. I entered the Placer County Jail around noon yesterday. At that time my blood pressure was one-seventy over one-twenty, and I reported that I had passed blood in my urine. I also reported that I had one of the most severe blood-pressure attacks of my life, with chest pains for the first time ever for me, and I became so disoriented that I collapsed and I injured my back and head.

I was told by the nurse that the medical director wants me on convention b-p [blood-pressure] medications. I replied that I am under doctor's orders to not use conventional b-p medication, since I don't have a conventional b-p problem. These meds would be worse for me and put me at high risk, according to my doctors. So, they also have denied repeated requests from me to talk to my attorneys; this is the first time I've had access to a phone, except yesterday. I had one call, so I used that to call Michele in Canada.

PM: Steve, did you receive the Marinol?

SK: Yes, that has been a godsend for me. The blood has stopped passing through my urine. My kidneys, which were just throbbing with pain, are starting to calm down, and it's not doing what cannabis does for me, but it's keeping me alive. I am so grateful for that.

SK: [Resumes reading remarks.] I am being held in 24-hour solitary lock-up until now; they let me out for one hour, I get one hour out of every 24 hours.

PM: I tried to visit you.

SK: Yes? What did they tell you?

PM: They told me you're only allowed two visitors a week, and for you, it's Sunday night and Thursday night. I called Michele to let her know that, because I will try to visit you tomorrow night unless you want to reserve the visit for somebody else.

SK: Yes, I'd like to arrange for me

SK: Well, I get to see my attorney anytime, right?

PM: Right. They wouldn't let me in as a professional visitor.

SK: Yes, I'd like to see you tomorrow. Let me continue giving my report. I assume you'll disperse it to the media?

PM: Yeah. In fact, Eric Bailey asked me to give him a call. But if you like, I'll put it up in notes and pass it along to Michele and DPFCA.

SK: Well, I'd like you to get to Eric first.

PM: OK.

SK: OK, so let me continue with my report. Here's the spooky part, Pat. The medical director has refused any further medical care for me, and has forced me to sign a paper that if I die, it's my fault for not taking conventional b-p medication. When I protested that the statement did not include the statement that I was under doctors' orders from my doctors not to take these medications, I was confronted by a deputy, who told me, I want to get the quote right, told me, "Sign the paper, and sign it as is." And, you know, just got in my face and made it clear that I was under physical duress to do it, that I was forced to sign that paper.

SK: No further b-p checks, or any physical examination, has been since I reported chest pains and blood in my urine.

PM: And when did you report that?

SK: Upon entering Placer County yesterday at noon.

PM: And no further - I mean didn't one-twenty, one-ten catch their attention?

SK: One seventy!

PM: Yeah. One-seventy over one-twenty. That didn't get their attention?

SK: They basically told me if I'm not going to do it their way, they're not going to deal with it. I've also been exposed to continual episodes of cold, where officers will put me in a situation, take my blanket from me. When I tell them that I'm cold and I need the blanket, I mean they're sitting there with a hat on, they got the heavy uniform and everything, they just give us a T-shirt! I'm a cancer patient! I haven't been able to hold any food down since I got here, since I was arrested. I'm being exposed to episodes where I get so chilled that my teeth are chattering and I'm shivering and it takes a half-hour to warm up. I'm afraid I'm going to get pneumonia or something if I continue to receive abuse like that.

PM: Steve, I was actually at the airport Thursday night and spoke to Bill McPike briefly. Did I hear him right that there were police cars on the runway?

SK: Here's what happened. We landed, we pulled into the tarmac, and they announced that Steve Kubby, please come to the front. So I go to the front and I get outside of the plane, and there are federal agents everywhere. I don't know, maybe six or eight federal agents. And they put me up against the wall, and they do the handcuff thing, and they were kind of rough with me, and then they start telling me I've got all these multiple warrants.

SK: And I'm thinking, oh man, is this the federal government getting bad-ass with me? Are they going to come after me? Then, no sooner than they - and they went over everything I have with a fine-tooth comb trying to look for a flake of pot or something - then they take me down to this cop car and put me in there, and the guy just cranks the, the Asian guy with Border Patrol, just cranks it down on my wrists until they're just, I'm screaming with pain. I tell the guy, this is really hurting me. And he basically just says tough. So, get this, the officer that's transporting me said, why don't you go ahead and loosen the cuffs. He says, he'll be a security risk, and he says, I'll take that chance.

SK: So, they loosen up the cuffs, we take off, and the guy says, so are you a senator or something? I said why. He says, because of all the people and press that were there. I said, no. I said I was one of those people who helped passed a law that police and prosecutors and judges don't like. So, he tells me, well, it wasn't supposed to go down this way. Quote - Someone has a big hard-on to get you. Otherwise we would have let you go to voluntarily surrender in Placer County. - Unquote.

PM: Hmm.

SK: Let's see what other information I have for you -

PM: What was the rest of that? Someone has a hard-on to arrest you? It wasn't supposed to go down? What did you say?

SK: "Otherwise, we would have let you go and voluntarily surrender in Placer County."

PM: And who told you that? The guy transporting you?

SK: Yeah, and he said he would never admit to it if I told.

PM: OK

SK: So, what else do I have to report - [Apparently scanning a list.]

PM: So, was there [sic] police cars on the runway or not? Did I misunderstand?

SK: Yes.

PM Yes?

SK: Yes. They pulled up to the the plane -

PM: yeah, but at the gate before they disembark?

SK: They got on and off out of everyone's view.

PM: So, did you exit through the normal gate, or did they, oh OK.

SK: I exited through the plane, and right outside the plane were these guys, between the plane and the gate.

PM: In the maneuverable hallway, or whatever.

SK: Yes.

PM: How was your treatment at the border, getting on the plane?

SK: Superb.

PM: So, Canadian officials were -

SK: Very polite. They went overboard to be polite and understanding and helpful.

PM: But you're saying you have not received that kind of treatment on the U.S. side of the border?

SK: I thought they were pretty rough with me. They were treating me like I was some kind of -

PM: You said they read all these charges, but you're not under arrest for those charges, are you?

SK: They just said I was under arrest for multiple warrants. I thought it was federal at the time; I was crapping in my pants. I took it pretty cool, actually.

PM: Bill [McPike] said you were in a pretty good mood, that you seemed to look forward to getting it resolved. Is that a fair description?

SK: Who said that?

PM: Bill McPike.

SK: Yes. Yes. I want everyone to understand three things. First of all, I never fled. I had the permission of the court to leave. Two, I opted not to return when it was clear to me that illegal and damaging things were being done behind the scenes to harm to me and to come after me. And three, I came down to voluntarily surrender myself.

PM: Well, did you have any choice?

SK: Yes, I had the choice to run, I had a choice to duck out in another country, but I came right to Placer County to face the music, and for them to face the music.

PM: So, you could have engineered an escape from the Canadian airport?

SK: Oh, I had all kinds of offers to go to Amsterdam, Europe, Australia, New Zealand.

PM: How about St. Vincent?

SK: Hey, if I'd had that, I might have taken it. [Pause.] Oh god, this Marinol has been so much a godsend for me.

PM: Dr. Tod told me yesterday that it was the first time he'd ever prescribed or recommended, prescribed I guess, in these kinds of circumstances. It has to be enough to give you an initial, uh, I forget the term, but

SK: You know, I was pissing blood until I got on the Marinol.

PM: Wow. [Pause.] So, did you sign that paper or not?

SK: You bet I signed it. They made it pretty clear I was in for a bad time if I didn't.

PM: But even with that cooperation, they have not monitored your health closely?

SK: I have only received one blood-pressure check and that was upon entry, at one-seventy over one-twenty.

PM: And now it's more than 24 hours later.

SK: Yes, that's correct.

PM: Steve, you said you've been kept in solitary since then. Is it at least an open-air cell?

SK: Yeah, it's part of a facility where each guy has one cell, and there's probably a dozen other guys locked down with me. Each of us gets out, now that I've been here a while, I get out one hour a day. I get out one hour a day, right now, and I'm locked down the rest of the time.

PM: When did you receive the Marinol, and has that been given to you regularly?

SK: Yes, I received the Marinol upon entering Placer County. And if you look at my mugshot, you'll see that within an hour I was already able to muster a smile for my mugshot.

PM: Good, so you had the Marinol before you took the mugshot?

SK: Yes, and I remembered what you said, that they'd probably print it, so I smiled.

PM: You know. Good point. Even Tom Delay learned that one. [Laughs.]

[SK: Yeah.] So, have you had any other comments either by inmates or law-enforcement officials that stand out, Placer County officials?